Eight people have been displaced after a massive apartment fire in the Hull Sector of Gatineau Friday night.
Gatineau fire officials say they received a call for a fire on Wright St. around 10:20 p.m.
“There were three persons still in the building so we evacuated them, no danger, we just evacuated them and spent most of the night putting out the fire,” said Gatineau Fire Chief, Daniel St. Jacques.
The fire took roughly eight hours to extinguish.
St. Jacques says the building, which housed nine apartments and a grocery store, is considered historic.
“It started at the balcony in the back and went up to the second, third floor and through the roof. We tried to stop it but those are old buildings, 100 year old buildings, so it’s difficult,” said St.Jacques.
Residents nearby said they could smell the smoke from inside their homes.
“The smoke was crazy! We closed all of our windows and started coughing because the smoke was coming into our house. It was scary,” said Maia Alexander, who lives across the street.
Another neighbour said she stood on her front porch and watched the building go up in flames.
“I was so worried that this thing was going to blow up or you don't know what to think because it’s so close to home. There were fire trucks all over. It looked like a battle zone,” said Zena Dumond, a nearby resident.
Total damages are estimated at about $700,000, said St-Jacques.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but inspectors attended the scene Saturday to investigate.
All eight people who have been displaced are all being assisted by the Red Cross.
